LIBRARY 


OP 

"-AUPORNIA 
SAN 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SAN  DIEGO 

IA  JQLLA,  CALIFORNIA 


LIFE,   CHARACTER,  AND  PUBLIC   SERVICES 


OF    THE    LATE 


EX-PRESIDENT   POLK: 


DELIVERED  AT  THE  REQUEST  OF  THE  MUNICIPAL  AUTHORITIES 


CITY    OF    BOSTON, 


JULY  25,  1849. 


BY  LEYI  WOODBUKY,    LL.D. 


BOSTON: 
1849. 

J.  H.  EASTBUEN  .  .  .  CITY  PKENTEK. 


CITY    OP    BOSTON. 


In  the  Board  of  Mayor  and  Aldermen,  July  26,  1849. 

Ordered,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Board,  in  behalf  of  the  City  Council,  he 
presented  to  the  HON.  LEVI  WOODBUKT,  for  the  able,  discriminating,  and 
acceptable  Eulogy,  pronounced  by  him  before  the  City  Authorities,  upon  the 
life,  character,  and  public  services  of  the  late  JAMES  K.  POLK  ;  and  that  he 
be  requested  to  furnish  a  copy  for  the  press. 

A  true  Copy  of  Record, 
Attest,  S.  F.  McCLEARY,  City  Clerk. 


BOSTON,  JULY  28,  1849. 

To  tJie  Board  of  Mayor  and  Aldermen,  of  the  City  of  Boston  : 
GENTLEMEN  : 

I  have  received  a  copy  of  your  very  favorable  notice  of  the  Eulogy 
on  Ex-President  Polk,  which  I  had  the  honor  to  pronounce  at  your  request, 
and  am  so  sensible  of  my  duty  to  repay,  as  far  as  in  my  power,  your  kindness 
in  asking  a  copy  for  publication,  that  full  as  it  is  of  imperfections,  one  is 
hereby  placed  at  your  disposal. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  &c. 

LEVI  WOODBURY. 


EULOGY. 


FELLOW  CITIZENS  : 

IN  paying  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  departed 
worth,  it  is  impossible  to  suppress  our  sympathies  and 
regrets.  But  while  unable  to  avoid  these  exhibitions 
of  the  frailty  of  human  nature,  it  is  fortunate  that 
they  are  at  times  attended  by  some  consolation.  This 
exists  in  the  reflection  that  the  remembrance  of  pri- 
vate virtues  or  long  public  services,  when  the  actors 
in  them  have  been  withdrawn  forever  from  the  theatre 
of  this  troubled  life,  is  likely  to  be  useful  to  the  living, 
and  that  to  commemorate  them  respectfully  is  an  act 
of  justice  to  the  dead. 

On  this  melancholy  occasion,  when  the  sudden  de- 
parture from,  among  his  countrymen  of  one  who  had 
rilled  a  large  space  in  their  history,  and  partaken 
liberally  in  their  highest  honors,  has  caused  the  tears 
of  millions  to  flow  for  such  a  bereavement,  let  us  try 
to  discharge  fitly  the  debt  of  gratitude  we  owe.  And 
perhaps  this  can  be  done  best  by  reviewing  and 
acknowledging  his  excellencies,  a  task  solacing  though 
sad,  and  at  the  same  time,  by  dwelling  upon  and 


among  them,  as  among  the  rich  flowers  of  nature, 
strive  to  value  properly  their  attractive  hues,  and,  if 
possible,  imbibe  some  of  their  fragrance  and  healthy 
virtues. 

JAMES  K.  POLK  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  in 
the  year  1795.  The  very  soil  where  he  drew  his 
earliest  breath  was  classical  in  our  annals,  and  calcu- 
.  lated  to  inspire  lofty  principles — it  being  the  county 
of  Mecklenburg,  where  the  first  public  avowal  of 
^American  Independence  was  recorded,  notwithstanding 
denunciations  of  treason  and  the  sight  of  the  scaffold 
in  perspective,  and  notwithstanding  all  those  ancient 
ties  of  veneration  for  the  mother  country,  and  pride 
in  her  greatness  and  glories,  which  had  animated  most 
of  the  colonists.  It  was  his  good  fortune  to  have 
sprung  from  a  revolutionary  stock.  The  latter  was 
fitted  to  teach  patriotism  by  example  as  well  as  pre- 
cept. "  God  and  Liberty  "  were  the  great  themes  of 
that  race  of  men,  and  to  serve  them,  their  chief  aims. 
He  was  blessed,  also,  with  a  mother,  who,  as  many 
distinguished  men  in  all  ages  have  experienced  in  like 
cases,  did  more  by  her  strength  of  intellect  and  de- 
voted attention,  to  check  the  erring  footsteps  of  youth, 
and  train  the  mind  as  well  as  the  heart  for  wisdom's 
path,  than  all  the  other  teachings  of  early  life.  And 
while  she  survived  to  witness,  with  sympathies  that 
only  a  mother  can  feel,  his  rapid  progress  to  distinc- 
tion, and  lived  to  gaze  on  the  bright  meridian  of  all 


his  public  honors,  it  was  her  sad  fate  to  behold  the 
object  of  her  affections  prematurely  cut  down,  and  to 
linger  around  his  dying  bed,  and  offer  up  prayers  for 
his  departing  soul. 

Mr.  Polk  enjoyed  in  early  life  the  advantages  of  a 
liberal  education.  These,  though  not  a  substitute  for 
self-study  and  self-teaching  afterwards,  and  when 
standing  alone  are  of  small  value,  compared  with 
those,  yet  they  furnish  means  and  implements  for 
future  thought  and  action,  often  of  great  moment. 
Such  opportunities  were  well  improved  by  him.  It 
was  done  with  unwavering  perseverance.  He  was 
never  wild  and  wayward,  nor  dazzling.  His  mind 
was  cast  in  a  different  mould,  and  looked  always 
rather  to  the  practical  than  the  brilliant  or  poetic. 

The  great  business  of  life  and  government — the 
toils  in  cabinet,  or  field,  or  work-shop,  or  on  the 
vessel's  deck — are  to  be  accomplished  by  business 
men,  and  whatever  homage  may  be  due  and  can  sel- 
dom be  withheld  from  the  beauty  and  passion  of 
poetry  and  rhetoric,  or  from  extraordinary  acquire- 
ments in  languages  and  mere  classical  studies,  yet, 
without  disparaging  them  in  their  appropriate  sphere, 
it  is  never  to  be  forgotten  that  they  alone  cannot 
build  railroads,  or  fell  forests,  or  govern  well  the  toil- 
ing millions. 

It  is  not  known  that  Mr.  Polk  was  at  this  period 
distinguished  by  anything  except  exemplary  habits, 
united  with  the  strictest  attention  to  study,  and 


crowned  by  the  usual  fruits  of  collegiate  honors.  And 
though  qualities  such  as  these  are  less  attractive 
to  the  young  than  premature  developments — meteor- 
like  exhibitions  of  genius  in  early  years — as  those  of 
Chatterton,  or  Coburn,  or  the  younger  Pitt,  yet  they 
are  well  known  to  the  elder  in  life  to  give  assurance 
of  a  steadier  and  more  useful  progress  in  after  days, 
and  to  be  likely  to  confer  greater  blessings  both  on 
the  individual  and  society  at  large.  He  soon  after 
prepared  himself  for  the  the  arduous  duties  of  the  bar. 
His  professional  studies  were  pursued  in  the  office  of 
Felix  Grundy,  in  Tennessee,  where  he  afterwards 
settled;  and  no  doubt  Mr.  Polk  caught  from  that 
eminent  advocate  and  politician,  some  of  the  keen 
sagacity  and  ardor  in  debate,  for  which  Mr.  Grundy 
was  so  remarkable  ;  and  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  add, 
in  grateful  remembrance  of  his  friendship,  equally 
remarkable  for  warmth  of  heart  and  fidelity  to  all  the 
charities  and  kindnesses  of  life. 

After  entering  on  the  practice  of  law  about  the 
year  1820,  the  Ex-President,  like  many  of  the  aspir- 
ing youth  of  America,  was  tempted  from  the  bar  into 
the  fierce  arena  and  turbulent  agitations  of  politics. 
And  though  in  this  case  the  change  may  have  been 
followed  by  extraordinary  success,  it  is  usually  at- 
tended by  disappointment,  by  unavailing  regrets  in 
after  life,  and  too  often  buffets  its  victims  around,  the 
sport  of  adverse  winds  and  quicksands,  till  every  thing 
is  shipwrecked,  so  that  you  cannot  "pull  up  drowning 


honor,"  even  "  by  the  locks."  He  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  Legislature  in  the  year  1823,  and  two 
years  afterwards  a  member  of  Congress.  Then  I  first 
had  the  pleasure  of  forming  a  personal  acquaintance 
with  him,  and  with  the  faithful  partner  of  his  sorrows 
and  joys,  at  that  time  in  the  bloom  of  youth,  buoyant 
with  hope,  and  inspiring  all  around  her  with  respect 
for  her  amiability  and  virtues.  She  was  a  new  star 
to  help  guide  his  future  destiny.  I  have  seen  her 
since,  more  matronly  and  yet  more  adorned  by  the 
graces,  devoted  to  the  discharge  of  the  appropriate 
duties  in  her  high  sphere,  winning  the  admiration  of 
thousands  by  the  marvellous  propriety  of  her  manner, 
and  returning  with  dignity  to  a  more  secluded  life 
with  a  long  vista  before  her  of  friendships  to  be 
brightened,  domestic  affections  cultivated,  new  scenes 
in  both  continents  to  be  visited,^  and  hosts  of  com- 
forts and  luxuries  to  be  collected  around  the  downhill 
of  life,  and  enjoyed  so  as  doubly  to  bless  her  in  com- 
pany with  him  to  whom  in  early  love  she  had  bound 
her  mortal  destiny  for  weal  or  woe.  What  a  change 
has  since  come  over  this  paradise  by  the  calamity  we 
now  deplore ! 

And  though  she  may  possess  firmness  of  nerve  and 
religious  resignation  to  bear  with  becoming  fortitude, 
though  not  without  anguish  and  torture  of  heart,  the 
severance  of  the  closest  of  earthly  ties,  she  must  have 
the  sympathies  of  us  all  in  the  desolating  change 

*  Mr.  and  Airs.  Polk  contemplated  travelling  in  Europe  next  autumn. 
2 


10 


from  her  high  hopes  and  enjoyments,  dashed  at  once 
into  fragments;  and,  in  their  stead,  sickness  and 
death,  sack-cloth  and  ashes,  the  sad  funeral  drapery 
and  the  chill  damps  of  the  tomb. 

Very  soon  after  entering  Congress,  Mr.  Polk  began 
to  be  appreciated  for  his  untiring  devotion  to  busi- 
ness. He  was  distinguished  also  for  care  in  his  exam- 
inations of  important  subjects,  and  for  promptitude  and 
spirit  in  debate.  His  speaking  was  always  animated 
and  usually  effective.  But,  what  in  such  a  practical 
body  often  goes  beyond  mere  oratory — he  soon  ac- 
quired the  character  of  "a  safe  man."  Every  one 
knew,  likewise,  beforehand,  where  to  find  him.  He 
belonged  to  that  school  in  politics,  where  the  strictest 
construction  of  the  constitution  prevails,  and  through 
his  whole  career  endeavoured  to  carry  out  its  views. 
He  was  no  ignis  fatuiis,  at  any  period  of  his  public  life ; 
but  firm,  steadfast,  armed  with  what  he  believed  to  be 
well  grounded  principles — and  with  courage  no  less 
than  fortitude  to  stand  by  to  the  last  what  he  had 
concluded  to  be  right.  These  qualities,  ere  long,  en- 
sured high  confidence ;  and  confidence  was  speedily 
followed  by  farther  honors  no  less  than  esteem. 

He  became  placed  at  the  head  of  some  of  the  most 
important  committees  in  the  House,  and  when  associat- 
ed with  that  of  Ways  and  Means,  in  1834  and  1835, 
the  most  working,  if  not  most  responsible,  station  in 
Congress,  I  enjoyed  in  the  treasury  department  still 
closer  opportunities  of  witnessing  his  careful  and 
practical  turn  of  mind. 


11 


While  anything  remained  to  be  known  for  illustrat- 
ing his  measures — anything  to  repel  assaults  on  them 
— he  was  indefatigable  in  becoming  possessed  of  it. 
The  patient  inquiry,  the  wide  research,  the  midnight 
lamp,  the  earliest  dawn  were  all  put  in  requisition. 

The  committees  over  which  he  presided  were  soon 
more  distinguished  than  usual.  Indeed,  the  commit- 
tees of  Congress  are  always  the  great  instruments  of 
its  power,  and  their  chairmen  are  even  more  to  the 
committees  than  are  the  latter  to  Congress.  They 
are  its  eyes,  ears  and  hands,  and  without  diligence 
and  talents  in  them,  system  and  punctuality  in  the 
head,  and  especially  in  crises  such  as  he  had  to  en- 
counter, in  vain  may  Paul  preach,  or  Apollos  water. 

Appreciating  and  anxious  to  reward  qualities  like 
these,  which  Mr.  Polk  had  exhibited  as  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  of  Foreign  Relations,  and  of  Ways  and 
Means,  the  house  early  marked  him  as  a  fit  person  to 
preside  over  its  deliberations.  No  station  in  the  gov- 
ernment is  more  imposing  or  influential  in  legislation 
than  that  of  presiding  officer  of  a  popular  body  to 
make  and  unmake  laws  for  a  great  and  free  people. 

After  one  failure  to  choose  him  when  nominated  as 
a  candidate,  he  was  at  last,  near  the  close  of  1835, 
elected  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
This  elevated  him  to  the  regulation  in  debate  and  in 
the  disposal  of  responsible  business  of  one  of  the  most 
difficult  assemblies  which  the  world  has  ever  known. 
He  was  surrounded  by  watchful  opponents.  He  was 


12 


criticised  by  the  disappointed.  He  met  envy  in  one 
quarter.  He  encountered  morbid  jealousy  in  others. 
But  it  was  good  for  him  to  be  thus  exposed,  as  he 
was  undoubtedly  thus  made  more  vigilant  and  indus- 
trious. It  was  useful  to  the  country,  also,  as  it  thus 
became  better  served.  It  was  not  wrong,  or  to  be 
lamented,  so  far  as  regards  even  assailants,  when  not 
overstepping  the  bounds  of  truth  and  courtesy. 

Opposition  thus  exercised  evinces  independence, 
freedom  of  thought  and  moral  courage ; — and  without 
these  the  administration  and  legislation  in  a  republic 
are  likely  to  become  as  degenerate  as  in  a  despotism. 

But  he  came  out  of  the  fiery  furnace  unscorched, 
and  triumphing  over  all  obstacles,  after  his  two  terms 
as  speaker  expired  in  1839,  he  retired  to  private  life 
with  the  presage  of  higher  honors  awaiting  him.  in  the 
distance. 

Foretold  even  then  the  future  greatness  which 
began  to  brighten  his  horizon,  enjoying  in  advance 
and  in  hope  some  foretaste  of  its  glories,  how  would 
his  cheek  have  blanched  and  his  heart  faltered  if  not 
fainted,  had  some  guardian  angel,  in  the  midst  of  his 
joyous  perspective,  whispered  like  a  seer  of  olden 
time,  that  its  toils  and  anxieties  were  to  sow  the  seeds 
of  death  and  hasten  him  to  an  untimely  grave. 

Notwithstanding  our  natural  solicitude  to  know 
the  future,  it  is  truly  fortunate  that  the  curtain  of 
fate  remains,  beforehand,  undrawn,  or  we  should 
shrink  back  from  many  laudable  efforts,  seeing  often 


13 


a  path  before  us  that  leads  but  to  the  tomb — or  at 
least  to  pains — desertion  of  friends — ruined  health 
and  broken  fortunes,  where  all,  while  shrouded  from 
view,  was  forced  by  hope  to  appear  bright  with  enjoy- 
ment and  honors. 

Mr.  Polk  was  not  allowed  long  to  remain  in  privacy. 
He  was  soon  elected  Governor  of  Tennessee  "after  a 
stormy  canvass,  which,  as  in  the  west,  being  conduct- 
ed often  in  person  "  from  the  stump,"  depends  much 
for  success  on  adroitness  in  debate  and  ability  and 
fulness  of  information  to  ward  off  victoriously  the 
blows  of  a  skilful  antagonist. 

All  this  was  united  in  him.  But  from  a  combination 
of  causes,  which  it  is  not  necessary  nor  fit  to  discuss  in 
their  political  bearings  before  this  mixed  audience,  Mr. 
Polk  was  in  another  contest  for  Governor  defeated. 
Yet,  Antaeus  like,  when  falling  to  the  earth,  he  seemed 
to  rise  again  with  renewed  strength,  and  aided  by 
sympathies  of  friends  and  by  new  agitating  questions 
in  the  general  government,  as  well  as  divisions  among 
those  friends  in  respect  to  former  favorites,  he  was  in 
1844,  in  the  democratic  convention  of  that  year,  un- 
expectedly at  so  early  a  day,  honored  by  the  nomina- 
tion to  the  highest  station  in  the  gift  of  a  free  people. 

His  election  took  place  in  the  following  winter,  at 
the  early  age  of  forty-nine,  Hbeing  the  youngest  ever 
elevated  to  that  important  office.  He  entered  on  its 
duties  on  the  4th  of  March  ensuing,  amidst  new  re- 
sponsibilities, new  labors,  new  dangers,  new  trials  of 


14 


mind  and  nerves.  The  manner  in  which  he  met 
these,  may  not  in  all  respects,  though  harmonized  as 
we  are  by  death,  be  viewed  in  the  same  light  by 
different  parties,  nor  by  all  of  any  party.  But  on  an 
occasion  like  this — amidst  great  scenes  within  our 
great  common  country — there  is  room  enough  for  all 
to  move  on,  without  elbowing  or  jostling  in  political 
strife.  Some  things  are  certain.  The  success  which 
crowned  his  efforts  few  will  deny.  The  eventful 
character  of  his  administration,  and  the  critical  exi- 
gencies with  which  it  had  to  deal,  all  must  concede. 
And  where  such  an  uniform  triumph  attended  his 
measures,  variegated  as  they  were  in  character,  though 
accident  and  the  exertions  of  others  might  contribute 
something  to  the  result,  it  is  hardly  philosophical  to 
attribute  all  of  it  to  them.  Certain  predominant 
qualities  in  the  pilot  at  the  helm  in  any  vessel,  and 
much  more  the  vessel  of  state,  will  tell  throughout  the 
voyage.  They  will  break  out  in  every  gale,  every 
peril.  One  kind  of  genius,  and  that  most  fruitful  of 
success  in  life,  is  the  power  of  concentrating  all  the 
faculties  on  the  business  in  hand ;  and  this  Mr.  Polk 
manifestly  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree,  in  relation 
to  the  affairs  of  public  life.  A  never  failing  and  ever 
useful  accompaniment  to  it  in  him  was  sound  common 
sense — that  sterling,  practical  view  of  men  and  things 
which  is  taken  by  the  millions,  and  alone  can  move 
the  millions.  To  this,  in  the  Presidential  chair,  Mr. 
Polk  added  uncommon  industry,  vigilance,  fidelity, 


15 


and  much  disregard  of  what  he  deemed  captious  cen- 
sure, whether  from  friend  or  foe. 

His  public  state  papers,  without  evincing  remark- 
able features  of  rhetoric  or  style,  are  always  well 
argued,  intelligible  and  full ;  and  his  speeches  while 
in  that  situation,  and  especially  during  his  northern 
tour,  two  years  since,  when  many  of  you  had  the 
happiness  to  listen  to  him,  were  very  appropriate. 

Without  aiming  either  in  dress  or  manners  to  be 
a  man  of  fashion  or  finished  elegance,  his  intercourse 
with  other  public  functionaries,  whether  foreign  or 
domestic,  was  easy  and  dignified,  and  his  deportment, 
towards  the  community  generally,  cordial.  He  never 
seemed  to  forget  that  he  sprung  from  the  ranks  of  the 
people,  that  he  belonged  to  a  government  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  that  he  was  but  a  servant  of  the  people.  In 
every  station  which  he  had  filled,  as  well  as  in  the  last 
and  highest,  his  morality  likewise  was  without  a  stain, 
and  though  not  a  professor  of  religion  till  the  closing 
scenes  of  life,  he  was  uniform  in  paying  respect  to  its 
principles,  and  in  attendance  on  public  worship.  This 
attendance  was  usually  with  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
though  he*  received  on  his  death-bed  the  rites  of  bap- 

O  •*• 

tism  from  an  Episcopal  Methodist  Clergyman. 

In  his  last  elevated  office,  with  such  talents  and 
such  impressive  traits  in  his  character  without  dero- 
gating from  the  very  successful  efforts  of  his  cabinet 
ministers  in  their  respective  spheres,  it  must  be  but 
justice  to  say,  that,  independent  of  his  constitutional 


16 


responsibility  for  their  measures,  and  hence  his  right- 
ful and  useful  control  over  them,  he  could  not  but 
have  exercised  other  influences  less  direct  on  every 
important  executive  proceeding.     The  impulses  of  his 
rare  combination  of  qualities  of  head  and  heart  being 
generally  felt  by  those  around  him,  must,  for  instance, 
have  contributed  to  caution  in  foreign  negotiations,  to 
watchfulness  in  conducting  a  distant  and  dangerous 
war,  and  to  promptitude  and  energy  in  meeting  the 
great  financial  difficulties  of  the  crisis.     His  daily  life 
became  a  daily  example  to  those  more  closely  con- 
nected with  him,  but  it  was  so  by  its  strong  moral 
influence   rather  than   by   any  brilliant  or  dazzling 
energies  of  a  master  spirit.     Such  a  moral  influence, 
constant,  strong  and  wide,  is  durable  instead  of  tran- 
sient in  its  consequences — imprints  its  footsteps  into 
the  rock  rather  than  the  sands  of  time — and  is  more 
useful,  by  its  abiding  results  to  the  community,  than 
all  the  corruscations  of  mere  genius.     In  short,  moral 
influence  thus  advances  the  social  condition,  as  well  as 
the  political,  and  forwards  fast  the  progress,  the  civili- 
zation and  best  hopes  of  humanity,  while  other  influ- 
ences too  often  retard  the  whole,  and  cast  many  a 
blight  over  the  pages  of  history.     Can  it  be,  then, that, 
possessed  of  this  great  influence,  accompanied^  as  it 
was  by  the  large  official  patronage  attached  to  his 
station,  and  by  experience  in  public  life  so  extensive — 
can  it  be  too  much  to  claim  for  him  that  the  remark- 
able success  which  attended  his  chief  magistracy  de- 


17 


pended  on  something  more  than  mere  accidental  causes 
or  the  assistance  conferred  by  others  ?  Reflect  a  mo- 
ment on  the  length  and  breadth  of  that  success.  How 
much  was  accomplished  within  so  brief  a  period  ?  A 
mere  outline  of  it,  the  most  naked  skeleton,  will  show  as 
many  great  events  as  sometimes  spread  over  a  century 
of  history. 

Indiscriminate  eulogy  is  without  value  or  point; 
and  hence  at  the  risk  of  being  thought  by  some  not 
sufficiently  enthusiastic,  it  has  been  and  will  be  my 
endeavor  "nought  to  extenuate,"  and  to  hold  the 
mirror  up  faithfully  to  the  truth  and  nature  of  the 
leading  features  in  his  admirable  character  and  re- 
markable administration.  I  do  not  consider  it  as  a 
part  of  his  fame  that  he  planned  many  of  these  great 
events.  He  did  not  enter  on  his  high  station  with  a 
magazine  in  his  mind,  full  of  magnificent  and  imposing 
measures  to  be  attempted. 

Though  a  young  man,  comparatively,  and  from  the 
enterprising  west,  his  character  was  rather  wary  than 
rash — rather  to  follow  than  devise — rather  to  meet, 
resolutely,  difficulties  and  dangers,  when  thrust  on 
him,  than  to  project  them,  or  to  indulge  in  novel 
designs  or  to  court  deeds  of  danger  and  blood.  Not 
like  the  hero  who  sleeps  near  him  at  the  Hermitage? 
born  to  carry  conquests  among  hostile  savages,  or 
meet  on  our  shores  an  invading  foe,  and  drive  back 
profaners  of  our  soil,  but  rather  a  civilian,  formed  to 
husband  carefully  and  defend  well  what  others  have 


18 


bravely  won.  Thus,  while  president.,  he  found  himself 
in  a  most  eventful  age ;  but  it  seemed  made  so  by 
others  more  than  himself.  He  added,  to  be  sure, 
something  to  the  great  deeds  and  stirring  incidents  of 
the  era,  but  this  was  rather  forced  on  him  than  sought. 
His  ambition  was  more  for  the  calm  than  the  tempest; 
and  his  reputation  will  rest  chiefly  on  the  successful 
manner  in  which  he  managed  the  vessel  of  state  in  the 
various  perils  which  he  was  compelled  to  face. 

Thus,  for  a  moment,  as  to  Oregon.  The  course  of 
events  had  produced  a  crisis  almost  unavoidable.  Her 
limits  and  exclusive  occupation  were,  therefore,  un- 
der his  administration  settled.  Though  long  before 
agitated — even  a  quarter  of  a  century — yet  a  regular 
government  by  the  United  States  was,  under  him,  first 
flung  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  their  laws 
and  institutions  first  carried  formally  and  fully  to  the 
waves  of  the  Pacific.  Grant,  that  all  was  not  obtained 
by  his  arrangement  which  the  sanguine  hoped ;  grant, 
as  was  the  conviction  of  many,  that  our  rights  to 
54°  40'  were  clear;  grant,  that  it  was  on  several 
accounts  desirable  to  stretch  our  limits  to  their  utmost 
verge  ;  yet  can  it  be  said  that  the  peace  of  the  coun- 
try with  a  great  kindred  power,  and  the  exclusive 
possession  and  settlement  and  growth  of  twelve  or 
thirteen  degrees  of  latitude,  and  under  the  reign  of 
established  laws  rather  than  the  rifle  or  the  toma- 
hawk, was  not  a  high  national  object,  desirable  to  be 
accomplished  speedily,  though  at  the  expense  of  some 


19 


territory.  All  must  admit  that,  on  a  subject  most 
sensitive,  further  painful  collisions  were  thus  obvi- 
ated— doubts  and  difficulties  of  many  years  standing 
closed,  and  the  prospect  of  future  war  between  races 
almost  fraternal,  thrown  off,  and  it  is  hoped,  for  ages. 
Next  behold  the  annexation  of  Texas,  finished  under 
his  auspices.  Though  it  is  conceded  far  from  having 
originated  with  him,  yet  this  measure  was,  during  his 
administration,  carried  into  complete  effect — consoli- 
dated. She  was  not  then  merely  preparing  to  come 
into  the  Union — anxious  and  negotiating — but  was 
actually  brought  in,  and  her  representatives  mingled 
with  ours  in  the  halls  of  legislation — her  troops  bleed- 
ing with  ours  on  the  field  of  glory,  and  her  lone  star 
united  in  our  political  galaxy  forever. 

The  importance  of  this  measure,  thus  perfected 
under  Mr.  Folk's  administration,  can  only  be  appre- 
ciated by  the  vindication  it  has  afforded  to  the  right 
of  self  government ;  and  the  large  addition  it  has  made 
to  our  territory — no  less  than  to  our  securities  in  future 
difficulties — and  the  hostile  weapons  both  in  peace  and 
war  it  has  wrenched  from  our  opponents,  and  the 
vast  markets  for  our  manufactures  it  has  opened,  and 
the  new  employments  presented  for  our  navigation. 
Superadded  to  all  this  has  been  the  acquisition  of 
California  and  new  Mexico — larger  in  territory  than 
half  our  old  thirteen  states  combined. 

This  has  been  more  exclusively  a  measure  of  his 
administration.  There  have  been  added  by  it  to  our 


20 


public  domain  and  to  the  Union — lands  broad  enough 
to  support  a  nation — rich  enough  in  gold  for  half  a 
world — harbors,  capacious  enough  for  whole  navies— 
and  almost  indispensable  for  safety  and  supplies  to 
the  greatest  whaling  marine  of  the  globe.  The  chief 
regret,  mingled  with  this,  may  be  the  inability  as  yet 
to  agree  on  any  but  a  military  government  over  this 
great  acquisition,  and  which  makes  a  strong  demand 
on  our  liberality  and  exertions,  as  it  already  has  done 
on  our  sympathies,  to  establish  the  law  of  the  Union 
over  what  has  been  purchased  by  means  of  the  money 
and  blood  of  this  consecrated  league  of  fraternal  states. 
Such  remote  regions  are  likely  soon  to  become  alien- 
ated, if  not  duly  protected  and  bound  to  us — by 
benefits  and  improvements,  such  as  are  necessary  to 
their  growth  in  commerce  and  close  attachment  to  the 
Union,  even  though  requiring  an  Isthmus  railroad,  or 
one  spanning  half  the  continent  in  higher  latitudes, 
and  which  are  so  much  stronger  ties  than  any  of  mere 
paper  or  parchment. 

Besides  these  mementoes  of  his  public  career,  as 
president,  has  been  a  war  unsought,  but  waged — 
brilliant — chivalrous  by  sea  as  well  as  land ;  and 
among  its  memorable  victories  not  the  least — fortified 
towns  conquered,  and  a  capital  subdued — renowned 
as  the  seat  of  empire  under  the  Montezumas,  and 
though  situated  over  7,000  feet  above  the  ocean — 
and  hundreds  of  miles  from  its  shores — yet  all  accom- 
plished under  orders,  supplies  and  reinforcements  from 


21 


a  distance  equal  to  a  quarter  of  the  diameter  of  the 
globe.  It  is  these  extraordinary  triumphs,  under  Mr. 
Folk's  administration  which,  however  as  party  poli- 
ticians we  may  differ  as  to  their  usefulness  or  justifi- 
cation, help  to  give  a  character  to  him  and  that  admin- 
istration in  all  coming  time.  They  have  astonished 
Europe,  and  carried  the  fame  of  the  American  flag  into 
both  hemispheres  higher  and  wider  than  in  any  former 
age.  Not  the  least  among  its  glories  has  been — forbear- 
ance to  the  fallen,  the  conquerors  bringing  away  scarcely 
any  spoils  of  war,  except  one,  perhaps  the  choicest  in 
history,  the  reputation  of  showing  great  humanity  to 
the  vanquished,  and  rare  moderation  in  victory.  What 
is  no  less  extraordinary  in  a  republic,  peace  followed 
under  the  same  chief  magistrate  by  whose  recommen- 
dation Avar  was  declared.  The  victorious  chieftains, 
also,  who  more  immediately  won  the  laurels,  have 
withdrawn  to  their  homes  and  to  peaceful  duties  as 
quietly  as  they  would  retire  from  a  church  service  or 
funeral  obsequies — rather  than  attempting  to  turn 
their  swords  against  their  common  country,  or  like  the 
Alexanders  and  Tamerlanes  of  antiquity,  to  ravage 
other  unoffending  nations.  Say  nothing  debatable 
then  in  a  party  view,  as  to  all  these  memorials  of  his 
fame  or  the  different  lights  and  shadows  in  which  they 
appear  to  different  minds — say  nothing  as  to  several 
important  changes  in  the  laws  on  financial  and  indus- 
trial subjects,  beside  postal  arrangements  by  sea, 
during  the  exciting  term  of  his  presidency,  and  which 


22 


time  will  permit  us  hardly  to  enumerate,  much  less 
discuss — say  only,  that  all  these  striking  events  in 
peace  and  war,  requiring  ages  to  develop  their  full 
results,  have  happened,  and  this  in  the  brief  space  of 
four  years,  and  enough  is  said  to  hand  down  to  after 
ages  the  renown  of  him  who  guided  the  whole.  His- 
tory will  do  credit  to  events  like  these,  or  become  no 
better  than  romance.  And  though  it  may  not  paint 
him  without  faults,  as  errors  of  some  kind  are  insepa- 
rable from  the  lot  of  humanity — yet  it  will  do  justice 
to  his  intentions,  however  at  times  misled — it  will 
yield  to  him  a  most  pacific  temper,  however  forced 
into  war,  and  will  commend  him  for  vigilance,  activity 
and  most  useful  and  exemplary  habits,  in  conducting 
the  whole,  whatever  severity  of  criticism  has  occa- 
sionally been  showered  on  him,  and  more  especially 
for  his  unexpected  vetoes.  Mr.  Polk  thus  lived  and 
thus  triumphed  until  the  period  arrived  for  his  return 
once  more  to  the  shades  of  private  life.  He  thus 
lived  and  triumphed  till  his  measure  of  patriotism  was 
full  even  to  overflowing,  till  he  had  done  almost  every- 
thing in  the  proudest  records  of  patriotism,  except  to 
die  for  his  country, — -pro  patria  mori, — till,  in  short,  the 
era  arrived  for  him  to  bid  farewell  to  all  official  great- 
ness, and  hasten  home  to  what,  alas,  soon  became  his 
long,  last  home.  He  went  amidst  the  thanks  and 
honors  of  a  grateful  people,  and  doubtless  in  the  ex- 
pectation of  many  years  of  the  most  choice  varieties 
of  bliss  that  have  survived  the  Fall. 


23 


His  return  was  almost  one  continued  triumphal 
procession,  and  though  seeming  to  us,  short-sighted 
mortals,  as  too  quickly  afterwards  removed  from  the 
living,  yet  he  died  only  when  it  is  probable  he  would 
have  lived  no  longer  for  the  public  service,  but  chiefly 
for  his  family  and  hosts  of  friends. 

Like  two  of  his  distinguished  predecessors,  as  presi- 
dent, he  was  childless ;  but  surrounded  with  almost 
every  other  blessing,  and  amidst  all  the  solaces  of  his 
calm  retreat,  so  deceitful  are  the  promises  of  life,  that 
in  little  more  than  three  brief  months  he  has  been 
summoned  to  the  dread  realities  of  another  world. 
"  What  shadows  we  are,"  may  be  seen  most  impres- 
sively in  his  fate,  so  soon  to  be  obliged  to  part  with 
so  many  treasured  hopes  and  enjoyments,  and  pass 
that  "  bourne  whence  no  traveller  returns." 

He  does  not  seem  to  have  been  unaware  of  his 
danger  from  the  first  approach  of  the  king  of  terrors. 
He  had  been  admonished  on  this  same  subject,  by  the 
same  insidious  foe,  when  on  his  visit  among  us  in 
1847.  Long  before  the  fatal  blow  was  struck,  he  had 
felt  his  frame  attenuated,  and  his  hair  thinned  and 
whitened  by  its  repeated  attacks,  added  to  his  severe 
official  labors.  But  he  met  his  fate  with  fortitude  and 
resignation.  In  the  same  house  where  his  early  friend 
and  instructor,  Mr.  Grundy,  lived  and  expired,  he 
sunk  slowly  to  his  last  rest  with  unclouded  faculties, 
amidst  the  consolations  of  our  holy  religion,  and  with 
the  sympathies  of  troops  of  personal  friends,  and  the 


24 


prayers  and  tears  of  a  widowed  mother  and  a  heart- 
broken wife. 

He  sleeps  now,  where  flattery,  if  indulged  in,  could 
not  "  soothe  the  dull  cold  ear  of  death."  But  it  is  only 
just  to  add  that  a  nation  laments  his  premature  de- 
parture— a  nation  is  proud  of  his  name  and  fame — a 
nation  will  embalm  his  worth — a  nation  unites  in 
paying  the  last  sad  honors  to  his  memory.  And  while 
the  authorities  of  this  ancient  and  honorable  city  con- 
tribute their  share  in  the  ceremonies,  the  credit  of  it 
will  be  reflected  on  them  no  less  than  on  him ;  and 
their  liberality  and  magnanimity  will  help  to  illustrate 
both  their  own  character  and  the  high  worth  of  the 
deceased,  considering  that  it  is  able  so  to  win  their 
respect  and  draw  forth  their  eulogies. 


PRAYER 


REV.  J.  BANVAKD 


Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven ;  with  thee  are  the 
issues  of  life,  and  in  thy  hand  are  the  keys  of  death  ; 
Thou  raisest  up  one  and  castest  down  another,  and  teach- 
est  all  to  accomplish,  as  an  hireling,  their  day.  Thou 
sittest  upon  the  throne  of  the  universe,  and  performest 
thy  pleasure  among  the  armies  of  heaven  and  the  chil- 
dren of  men — none  being  able  to  stay  thy  hand,  or  hav- 
ing authority  to  say,  What  doest  thou  ? 

Assembled  as  we  are  on  the  present  occasion,  without 
regard  to  our  peculiar  views  of  national  policy,  but  simply 
in  our  capacity  as  fellow  citizens,  having  common  hopes 
and  privileges,  common  enjoyments  and  responsibilities, 
to  testify  our  respect  for  one  who,  by  the  suffrages  of  his 
countrymen,  has  occupied  various  important  stations  in 
the  government, — we  implore  thy  blessing  to  rest  upon 
us.  May  we  be  enabled  to  take  a  correct  view  of  that 
afflictive  dispensation  which  has  given  occasion  for  these 
funeral  obsequies ;  may  we  rightly  interpret  the  lessons 
which,  by  this  painful  event,  thou  dost  inculcate. 

We  here  see  one,  who,  after  occupying  the  highest 
position  of  honor  and  power  in  the  gift  of  the  nation,  and 
one  ofthe  most  exalted  stations  in  the  world,  withdrawing 
from  the  excitement  and  responsibilities  of  public,  to  the 
calm  enjoyment  of  private  life.  But  alas  !  instead  of  re- 


26 


posing  for  years,  in  dignified  retirement  upon  his  honors, 
how  soon  was  he  required  to  relinquish  those  honors  and 
to  enter  upon  the  realities  of  "  that  world  which  no  mor- 
tal may  know !"     So  true  is  it  that  it  is  not  in  man  that 
walketh  to  direct    his    steps — that    whilst   man's   heart 
deviseth  his  way,  layeth  his  plans  and  cherisheth  high 
hopes,  the  Lord  directeth  his  steps — so  true  is  it  that  man 
at  his  best  estate  is  altogether  vanity.     For  thou  chang- 
est  his  countenance  and  sendest  him  away ;  thou  teach- 
est  him  to  say  to  corruption  thou  art  my  father,  and  to 
the  worm  thou  art  my  mother  and  sister,  and  in  the  grave 
will  I  make  my  bed.     Yet  this  is  but  the  repetition  of  an 
event  which   had    previously   and   frequently    occurred. 
Our  Presidents — those  who  have  successively  occupied 
this  eminent  position  since  the  formation  of  our  govern- 
ment— where  are  they  ?  and  our  fathers,  our  senators,  and 
our  judges,  do  they  live  forever  ?     Alas !  Death  regards  no 
distinctions  of  age,  of  talent,  nor  of  station.     He  comes 
uninvited  to  the  highest  seats  of  the  executive  ;  he  visits 
the  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  in  time  of  peace  as  well 
as  amid  the  roar  of  battle ;  he  enters  our  halls  of  legisla- 
tion, our  courts  of  justice,  our  seats  of  learning,  and  the 
sacred  precincts  of  the  pulpit,  that  there  he  may.  select 
incumbents  for  the  grave  ;  so  that  we  may  appropriately 
use  the  language  uttered  in  ancient  times — The  Lord  of 
Hosts  doth  take  away  the  mighty  man  and  the  manxpi 
of  war,  the  judge  and  the  prophet,  the   prudent  and  the 
ancient,  the  honorable  man  and  the  counsellor,  the  cun- 
ning artificer,  and  the  eloquent  orator. 

With  reference  to  the  distinguished  individual  whose 
sudden  demise  has  startled  the  nation,  and  given  occasion 
for  these  solemn  services,  we  thank  thee  for  his  personal 
integrity,  his  private  virtues,  and  for  all  the  influence 
which  he  exerted  whilst  occupying  his  various  official 
stations,  in  favor  of  the  elevation,  the  improvement  and 
perpetuity  cf  our  republican  institutions.  For  all  the 


27 


judicious  councils,  the  timely  warnings,  the  sentiments 
of  morality,  and  all  the  motives  to  an  honorable  and  pat- 
riotic life  which  were  ever  uttered  by  his  lips,  or  fell 
from  his  pen.  do  we  sincerely  praise  thee. 

We  deem  it  an  especial  cause  of  gratitude  that,  in  this 
age  of  scepticism  and  infidelity,  when,  by  so  many  in 
the  more  elevated  circles,  as  well  as  in  the  lower  walks 
of  life,  the  sacred  Scriptures  are  contemned,  the  house  of 
God  abandoned,  the  Sabbath  violated,  and  the  claims  of 
Jehovah  disregarded,  that  the  influence  of  his  high  exam- 
ample  has  been  given  in  favor  of  the  reading  and  study  of 
the  Bible.  We  thank  thee  that  when,  Chief  Magistrate 
of  the  Union,  he  was  accustomed  so  generally  to  ob- 
serve the  Sabbath,  and  to  frequent  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Most  High,  and  that  in  his  last  moments,  he  rendered  his 
verdict  in  favor  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God. 

Whilst  we  have  occasion  deeply  to  regret  that  during 
his  administration,  by  the  prevalence  of  a  most  sanguin- 
ary war,  so  many  of  our  countrymen  were  sent  to  un- 
timely graves,  it  affords  alleviation  to  know  that  thou 
canst,  and  to  believe  that  thou  wilt,  bring  good  out  of 
that  which  is  evil,  and  gather  a  revenue  of  praise  from 
the  wtath  of  man. 

Oh  thou  friend  of  the  afflicted,  and  Comforter  of  the 
comfortless,  we  commend  to  thee  her  who,  by  this  pain- 
ful bereavement,  is  the  most  deeply  affected :  may  the 
afflicted  widow — the  chief  mourner  of  the  nation,  find  in 
the  truths  and  promises  of  the  gospel,  ample  sources  of 
consolation  and  strength.  Whilst  the  remembrance  of 
the  virtues  and  the  honors  of  her  distinguished  com- 
panion, and  the  official  expressions  of  respect  for  his 
memory  and  sympathy  for  herself,  which  have  been,  or 
which  may  yet  be  extended  to  her  by  the  various  munici- 
pal and  state  governments  of  our  land — whilst  all  this 
may  be  peculiarly  grateful — yet  may  the  promises  of  thy 
word,  the  sympathy  of  a  Great  High  Priest  who  hath 


28 


passed  into  the  Heavens,  and  who  can  be  touched  with 
the  feeling  of  our  infirmities  as  no  mortal  can,  and  the 
privilege  of  approaching  the  throne  of  grace,  be  to  her 
bruised  and  bleeding  heart  far  more  precious.  May  she 
now  dwell  with  unwonted  interest  upon  those  consoling 
declarations  of  thy  word — 'A  Judge  of  the  widows  is 
God  in  his  holy  habitation ;  For  thy  Maker  is  thy  hus- 
band, the  Lord  of  Hosts  is  his  name,  and  thy  Redeemer, 
the  Holy  one  of  Israel.  Be  thou  a  present  help  to  her  in 
this  her  time  of  need.  Under  the  influence  of  the  gospel 
in  which  she  professes  to  confide,  may  she  rise  superior 
to  her  trials  and  glorify  God  in  the  fires.  In  the  exercise 
of  a  spirit  of  calm,  Christian  resignation,  may  the  lan- 
guage of  her  heart  sincerely  be,  the  cup  that  my  Father 
hath  given  me  shall  I  not  drink  it  ?  Not  my  will  but 
thine  Oh  God  be  done.  By  the  power  of  Christian  faith 
may  she  endure  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible  ;  may  she 
look  beyond  the  cloud  which  now  casts  its  dark  shadow 
upon  her  path,  and  anticipate  the  time  when  the  days  of 
her  mourning  will  be '  ended,  when  thou  wilt  wipe  all 
tears  from  her  eyes,  and  when  she  will  be  an  inhabitant 
of  that  world  where  there  is  no  death,  nor  sorrow,  nor 
crying,  nor  pain,  but  where  in  thy  presence  is  fullness  of 
joy,  and  at  thy  right  hand,  pleasures  for  evermore. 

May  the  whole  circle  of  relatives  who  have  been  af- 
flicted by  this  unexpected  calamity,  see  the  uncertainty 
of  earthly  grandeur,  the  brevity  of  human  life,  and  the 
importance  of  being  habitually  prepared  for  its  termina- 
tion. May  it  be  their  earnest  effort  to  imitate  every  no- 
ble, every  generous,  every  patriotic,  every  commendable 
trait  in  the  character  of  the  deceased.  May  they  acquit 
themselves  like  men  upon  the  stage  of  life,  being  mainly 
anxious  to  discharge  all  their  obligations  with  such  strict 
fidelity  as  to  secure  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience 
and  the  approbation  of  Heaven. 

May  this  solemn  admonition  of  thy  Providence  be  ap- 


29 


propriately  regarded  by  the  present  Chief  Magistrate  of 
the  Union.  Occupying,  as  he  does,  an  exalted  position 
which  had  been  previously  filled  by  a  number  who  are 
now  in  the  world  of  spirits,  may  he  be  suitably  impressed 
with  the  uncertainty  of  its  tenure.  Having  been  a  man 
of  war  comparatively  from  his  youth,  and  the  conqueror 
in  many  a  hard-fought  battle,  may  he  in  future,  reap  a 
richer  harvest  of  glory  from  the  peaceful  administration 
of  the  government,  than  he  ever  gathered  from  his  vic- 
tories on  fields  of  blood.  May  his  administration  be 
eminently  wise,  just,  liberal,  patriotic,  unsectional  and 
efficient.  May  all  the  checks  and  the  limitations  which 
have  been  established  by  the  Constitution  and  the  laws 
be  duly  observed.  May  there  be  no  usurpation  of  illegal 
authority,  no  trampling  upon  the  rights  nor  disregard  of 
the  claims  of  others,  but  earnest,  conscientious  and  per- 
severing endeavors  to  protect  the  rights,  to  consider  the 
claims,  and  to  promote  the  welfare  of  all.  May  the  vari- 
ous branches  of  industry,  and  all  of  the  useful  arts  and 
sciences  be  encouraged  and  advanced.  Through  all  the 
channels  of  trade  may  there  flow  a  healthful  current ; 
may  all  classes  of  men  find  profitable  employment  ;  may 
want  be  banished  ;  may  plenty  prevail ;  may  judicious 
progress  and  permanent  improvement  be  secured  to  all 
our  valuable  institutions  ;  may  peace  be  successfully  cul- 
tivated between  this  and  all  foreign  nations,  and  may 
there  be  great  advance  made  in  the  encroachments  of  the 
light  and  spirit  of  liberty  upon  the  dark  domain  of  Slavery. 
May  thy  blessing  rest  upon  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  our 
beloved  Commonwealth ;  upon  the  Governors  of  the  va- 
rious other  States  of  the  Union ;  upon  our  National  and 
State  Legislatures ;  upon  our  Municipal  Government,  at 
whose  call  we  have  come  together,  and  upon  all  others 
who  are  in  authority.  May  they,  by  the  faithful  discharge 
of  their  public  trusts,  and  in  the  development  of  their 
private  character,  prove  themselves  to  be  men  of  integ- 


30 


rity,  of  sobriety,  of  moral  purity;  noble-mided,  honorable, 
patriotic,  Christian  men — truly  solicitous  to  advance  the 
interests  arid  the  happiness  of  the  nation. 

By  the  solemn  admonition  which  has  occurred,  may, 
throughout  our  land,  inordinate  ambition — the  love  of 
power  and  glory,  be  checked  ;  may  rapacity  for  wealth  be 
restrained ;  may  the  spirit  of  party  be  weakened,  and  the 
power  of  selfishness  diminished.  On  the  contrary,  may 
a  spirit  of  common  brotherhood,  of  enlightened  charity, 
and  of  expansive  Christian  benevolence,  widely  prevail. 

We  deem  it  not  inappropriate  on  this  occasion  to  re- 
membsr  that,  since  the  decease  of  him  whom  to-day  we 
mourn,  death  has  again  entered  the  capital  of  the  nation, 
and  removed  the  venerable  and  honored  relict  of  one  who 
was  formerly  President  of  these  United  States.  Thou 
didst  permit  her  to  behold  the  rising  glories  of  her  coun- 
try, until  the  little  one  had  become  many  millions,  and 
the  small  one,  one  of  the  most  powerful  nations  upon 
earth.  We  thank  thee  that  in  the  annals  of  our  country, 
so  much  prominence  may  be  justly  given  to  the  influence 
of  woman.  We  thank  thee  that  in  the  time  which  tried 
men's  souls,  the  influence  of  woman  stimulated  our  fa- 
thers to  contend  earnestly  for  the  defence  of  their  rights, 
the  protection  of  their  homes,  and  for  the  liberties  of  their 
country.  Oh  grant  that  their  virtues  may  be  imitated  by 
their  sex  during  many  successive  generations.  Through 
all  coming  time  may  the  daughters  of  our  land  prove 
themselves  the  worthy  decendants  of  such  an  honored 
maternity ! 

And  now,  Oh  Father,  let  thy  blessing  rest  upon  him 
who  is  to  address  us  on  the  present  occasion.  Prepare  us 
for  the  reception  of  those  truths  which  he  may  inculcate  ; 
then  assist  us  to  return  with  renewed  vigor  to  the  great 
battle  of  life ;  and  as  there  is  no  discharge  in  this  war, 
grant  that  when  the  time  comes  for  us  to  fall,  we  may  be 
found  at  our  post,  with  our  armour  on,  zealously  contend- 


31 


ing  for  truth,  liberty  and  religion.  When  to  us  comes  "  the 
last  of  earth"  may  we  be  "content."  Through  faith  in 
the  Captain  of  our  Salvation,  may  we  with  our  last  failing 
breath  be  enabled  to  say — Oh  Death  where  is  thy  sting  ? 
Oh  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  Thanks  be  unto  God, 
who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
When  the  beauties  of  creation  fade  from  our  eyes,  may 
the  glory  of  Paradise  be  brought  to  view ;  when  the 
sounds  of  earthly  music  and  the  tones  of  affection  die 
away  upon  our  ear,  may  we  catch  the  melody  of  angels ; 
when  we  bid  farewell,  to  thoss  whom  we  love  on  earth, 
may  we  receive  the  welcome  of  beloved  ones  in  Heaven : 
all  of  which  we  ask  in  the  name  of  Him  who  is  worthy 
to  receive  riches  and  honor,  dominion  and  power,  hence~ 
forth  and  forever,  AMEN. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REG  ONAL  L  BRARY  FACILITY 


CENTRAL  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
University  of  California,  San  Diego 

DATE  DUE 


MAV  1 


1973 


C139 


UCSD  Libr. 


